Here's How U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis Draws Leadership Lessons From Books

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis arrives at the 149th annual Department of Defense National Memorial Day Observance at Arlington National Cemetery, May 29, 2017.

CNBC: Defense Secretary James Mattis is a voracious reader. Here's how he draws leadership lessons from books

* Mattis, hailed for his battlefield prowess and kinship with rank-and-file soldiers, has said that the best way to hone war-fighting skills is to leverage lessons learned from history.
* Before taking the highest office in the Pentagon, Mattis' personal library included 7,000 books.
* "You stay teachable most by reading books by reading what other people went through," Mattis has said.

Defense Secretary James Mattis, a revered Marine with a military career spanning four decades, credits his leadership success to his voracious reading habits.

"Thanks to my reading, I have never been caught flat-footed by any situation, never at a loss for
how any problem has been addressed before. It doesn't give me all the answers, but it lights what is often a dark path ahead," Mattis wrote in a 2003 email to military historian Jill Russell.

Mattis, hailed for his battlefield prowess and kinship with rank-and-file soldiers, explained that the best way to hone war-fighting skills is to leverage lessons learned from history.

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Bookyards Editor: I can only hope that he is still reading.